The reason for this disagreement lies in the hadiths about combining prayers that had reached them, for such hadiths are few. Combining prayers at ʿArafah and Muzdalifah is unanimously accepted and established through mass transmission, so they did not dispute it.

Abū Hanīfah did not allow combining prayers elsewhere because of the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd recorded in the Sahīh, in which he said:

“I never saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) offer a prayer outside its time except the Fajr prayer at Muzdalifah and the Maghrib prayer on the night of Jamʿ.”

By describing Fajr as being offered “outside its time,” he meant outside the time at which the Prophet habitually offered it. For the Sahīh records from Jābir:

“He offered Fajr at Muzdalifah after dawn had broken.”

Muslims unanimously agree that Fajr may not be offered before dawn breaks, whether at Muzdalifah or elsewhere. At Muzdalifah, however, he offered it very early, while it was still quite dark.

As for most of the imams, authentic hadiths about combining prayers had reached them, such as those narrated by Anas, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar and Muʿādh, all of which are authentic.

The two Sahīh collections record from Anas:

“When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set out before the sun passed its zenith, he delayed Zuhr until the time of ʿAsr, then stopped and offered both prayers together. When he set out after the sun had passed its zenith, he offered Zuhr and ʿAsr, then mounted.”

Another wording in the Sahīh states:

“When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to combine the two prayers while travelling, he delayed Zuhr until the beginning of the time of ʿAsr, then combined them.”

The two Sahīh collections record from Ibn ʿUmar:

“When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was pressed to travel quickly, he combined Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ.”

Another wording in the Sahīh states “that